Kouta Niizuma, PhD
|
Investigator, Instructor SURG MGH TX MD, Mass General Research Institute |
| PhD University of Tsukuba, Japan 2018 |
| Postdoc Stanford University 2024 |
Research Interests
Research Narrative
Kouta Niizuma, PhD, is a principal investigator at the Center for Transplantation Sciences and the Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance at Massachusetts General Hospital. Trained as an immunologist and stem cell biologist, he leads research investigating how the immune system recognizes transplanted cells and tissues, and how these responses can be modified to promote engraftment, regeneration, and long-term transplant acceptance.
His work brings together transplantation immunology, hematopoietic stem cell biology, and pluripotent stem cell research. A central focus is understanding and overcoming immune barriers to allogeneic and xenogeneic transplantation, including the roles of macrophages, natural killer cells, and adaptive immune responses. He is also interested in how hematopoietic chimerism establishes donor-specific immune tolerance and how stem cell technologies could extend tolerance-inducing strategies to a broader population of transplant recipients.
Complementary research interests include antibody engineering and interspecies organogenesis. The long-term goal of this work is to develop approaches that reduce dependence on lifelong immunosuppression and expand the availability of transplantable cells, tissues, and organs.
Dr. Niizuma earned his PhD at the University of Tsukuba in Japan and subsequently conducted postdoctoral and staff scientist research in Dr. Hiromitsu Nakauchi’s laboratory at Stanford University before joining Massachusetts General Hospital.